In the amidst of the busy highway of the dark City, a man is scrolling down the streets holding his fedora hat down on his face covering his eyes. He took out spare coins and offered them to the poor boy on the side before turning to enter the auction happening at the Palais Garnier.

The room was filled with claps of a thousand hands from bidders echoing throughout the vicinity. People raising numbers higher and higher as they can be. Meanwhile, a girl stared down weary at the auction bidders taking place below her floor. Crossed legs one above the other, back against a red cushion chair, and right elbow resting on the armchair.

"Crétin (moron)." She mumbled under her breath. She settled her temple on the fold of her right fist as she let out a sigh. From the distance, the girl gazed at her side without moving her head, taking sight of the other VIP people whispering. She knows damn well, they are talking about her.

A girl who sits alone with the VIPs but hasn't bet on the single artifact that the host presented.

"Sœur (Sister)," A hand suddenly rested on the left armchair of the girl. A tall man in a French red suit with long black hair with red tip highlights, red with mix of gold eye and an eyepatch on his left eye. He stood beside her, slightly leaning down to grab her attention, when he did. The man smiled, "Pourquoi ne pariez-vous pas? (why aren't you betting?)" He asked her. "Vous me mettez dans l'embarras ici." (You are embarrassing me here.)

The girl looks at the man beside her before turning to the event happening on the ground floor. Everyone continues to bet and buy the artifact that the host presents, but in the eyes of the girl, she could see hungry humans buying their food for millions of dollars. She shut her eyes, and opened her mouth, "None of this worth buying." She said loudly for the other VIP's people on her floor to hear her voice.

The VIP's flinched with their eyes widened by her words, they quickly turned away before the man beside her turned his head to the VIP's. He smirked before standing straight beside the girl's chair, "You are creating attention sister," He speak in his English accent with a mix French, he gazed at the girl sitting boredly on her chair, "Is there a specific artifact that you are planning to get by coming here?"

The elegant woman in a black shirt, black trench coat, and pants with black boots with heels sat quietly on her chair, staring at the auction. She tilted her on one side, causing her scarlet silky hair to fall in the same way her head fell. A pair of red mixed with gold eyes narrows into a line as her expression grows serious. "It's not an artifact that I'm waiting for." She told her accompany.

"Oh," The man gasps as the woman answers, "And what are you waiting for then? You know, you are wasting your time in this boring place," The man tested his sister's patience with a slightly mocking tone. "If you aren't planning buy something."

The girl clenched her fist tight, "If you wish to leave, you can do so without irritating me." Her voice deepened to an angry tone. He chuckled softly, leaning his back against the wall with their arms folded together and facing the woman.

"I'm just asking dear sister." The boy said in a playful tone, "You have been here for 2 hours, and still haven't bought anything. Plus, the night is about to end, and we have another day ahead of us." He poked her left temple and gently pushed it further to the right side. He turned his back on her, "Let's go. The Queen of monsters had summoned us."

The scarlet girl gazed at her brother who is now standing behind her chair, as a poker face didn't leave her expression. "The Queen of monsters? Summon us?" She repeated his words, while the host took out the last module, it was a little girl with pure white hair, ocean blue eyes, and bright smooth skin. She was like no other little girl; she shone through the stage with cuteness and beauty.

The crowds began to yell their bidders higher and higher than it was before, driving the whole auction crazy. The woman closed her eyes hearing the crowd yelling '5 million', '15 million', '20 million', as it continued to go higher and higher. "Pass." She spoke.

"It was more like an order, sister." The brother told her, hiding his hand under his pockets.

"She is not our queen. Why do we follow her order? James," The girl asked, with an irritated and unpleasant tone. She rolled her eyes to land on the little girl standing in the center of the stage and a smirk curved up on her lips.

"She isn't, but our queen wishes us to help their so-called sinister mates," James answered, then suddenly he paused for a moment—placing his fingers on his chin as his head tilted on one side. "I think, I heard of them before."

"So do I." The girl mumbled, rising from her chair, taking her poodle from her seat. "But they aren't that famous enough to catch my attention." She raised her number to the host, "300 million."

The black-haired boy smirked, hearing the crowd silent of shock on the highest bidder than any of them could offer. There was a moment of silence spread out across the room before the host gasped and bagged the gavel loudly, "Sold. For 300 million to Lady Melissa Silverwood." The crowd clapped their hands in slow and feeble motion, as the little girl looked up on the second floor to meet the eyes of a woman with red mixed with gold–smiling down on her. Two men escort the little girl out of the stage and prepare to give her to the woman.

Melissa flips her hair in the air, turning to her brother who was already facing directly at her. "When do we meet them?" She asked with her lips curved in one corner.

"Tomorrow at dawn. Our queen already prepared a teleportation for us to use." The boy told Melissa, "Though, she said we need all the rest we need before the transport."

"Did you ask why?" She leaned her hips on the rail.

"It had something to do with facing the Queen of monsters and endless battle," James answered, the girl didn't ask anything else, but her thought was filled with questions about this order from her queen. Why did their queen help Queen Narissa, the Queen of monsters? Why did they suddenly decide to react for their help? What do they need their help for? The questions that are still unanswered and only by Queen Narissa and her Queen who knows the answer.

In night gone by, the siblings were about to leave the room, when a man around the auction throw an egg at Melissa luckily James snatches the egg away as it nearly hit her. "Are you alright, sister?" He asked, Melissa simply nodded her head. She turned her head at the man who throw an egg at her.

"You Cheater!!!" The man yelled through the auction in outrage. He pointed at the Melissa, "You never participated on the other artifacts now you are buying that girl. Clearly you don't have that enough money." He smirked, disgusting and wicked.

The auction was quickly filled with whispers and mumbles, as another brave man step in and agreed with the first man. "His right. You are just showing off! You will never even buy that girl!"

"Yeah!" The crowd yelled. The long-black haired boy crushes the egg with his hand into a fist, while the red-haired girl remained calm.

"Those idiots!" James step on the rail, but Melissa pulled him down. "Sister."

She looked at him with a serious and cold gaze, leaving him no choice but to comply. She takes a step forward, gazing at the man, chubby, old, bold head wearing a brown suit. "Dear man, I have never cheat in the auction. I raised a number and bought the girl fairly. That's the rule in the auctions."

"Fuck the rules." The man yelled at the woman on the second floor and raised their finger at her. "Admit you are cheating!!"

"I won't admit anything." Melissa said, "Because I didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah right. You're telling me, a woman like you could afford 300 million, pathetic." The man mocked the woman with smirked followed by the laughs of the people in the auction.

"Woman like me?" Melissa repeated, with her deepen in dark cold.

"Yes. Dressing up like that. It clears you come from some low family heirs." The man laughed, continuing to mock them. "A woman are so weak and can be easy be played with. You don't even look like you went to an academy with that outfit, you just got lucky you enter this kind of auction. They probably only let you enter with beauty face." The man smirked creepy, "If you don't want to be embarrassed, just give--"

There was a collective gasp as the man's head suddenly rolled away from his body, a spray of blood splattering across the floor and nearby people. Several guests began to scream, their voices rising in a cacophony of fear and shock. The room was suddenly filled with chaos as people scrambled to get away from the gruesome scene. Some people covered their faces in horror, while others tried to help the wounded.

James who standing behind his sister called out for her, "Sis." Melissa dropped her hand down with tongue clenched inside her fingers, blood dripping on the ground through her hand. She turned her head at her brother with a death gaze.

"I won't tolerate this kind behavior in my city." She scowled. "Take them out. Kill them if you have too." She walks past James as she gives the commode. 

The boy smirked; he took out playing cards, and step into the rail once more. "Yes, sister."

•◈──────◈✧✦✧◈──────◈•

The siblings were walking down the stairs, and the boy with no single injury turned to the exits where a car black waited for them, with the girl following behind him. "Sister, why did you buy the girl?"

Melissa hummed softly as she recalled the faces of the people after winning the biggest bet, then chuckled. "I just think that girl is too adorable for man like those people to get their hands on the girl." She smiled at the sight of dead body, her dear brother does.

James stretched his arms behind his neck and intertwined his fingers. He laughed at his sister's answer, but he knew deep down that wasn't her true goal. "Come on, sister. I know you have another reason for buying that girl." He stopped in front of the door and turned to Melissa, "You knew, there would be a girl selling in this auction on this night."

Melissa smirked; she walked past him. "I have no idea, what are you talking about?" She opened the door and saw the white-haired little girl standing in front of her car with the man beside her who would take the 300 million from Lady Silverwood.

Melissa gives the sign to her assistant to take the money from the back of the car as James exits the building. After they represent the full payment to the man they change the contract, Melissa turns to the girl with a sweet smile and knees down on her height. "What's your name, little one?"

The little girl looked up at Melissa with wide eyes, her small body trembling slightly. After a moment of silent hesitation, she spoke up in a soft voice. "It's...Emily," she said, her small hand shyly hiding the front of her plain, worn dress.

Melissa reacted out her hand, "I am Melissa, your new family." She held her other hand beside her where her brother stood. "This is my brother, James. We will take good care of you from now on."

Emily's eyes darted between Melissa and James, her mouth parting slightly in surprise. She looked at Melissa's outstretched hand, hesitant to accept her offer. She had been on her own for so long, and the idea of having a new family was both exciting and scary.

Melissa smiled before lifting the girl in her arms and stood up. "We should get going," She informed her brother and assistant. "We will be meeting the Royal highness monsters soon." James nodded his head and opened the door to the car for her once Melissa and the girl entered the back seat, he closed the door and opened the passenger seat in the front where Melissa's assistant is sitting on the driver seat. 

Author: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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•╰─► 𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅
➤ 𝑼𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅: 1/02/2025

Melissa Silverwood

James Silverwood